[Werewolf TF] The Wolves of Fellwood - Part 4 (Patreon)

Elowen finally encounters humans again and makes a big decision. 

~

Elowen rested a palm across her lower stomach and bit her lip. It had been a month since her heat, it was only a matter of time before she would know for certain if she was pregnant. Raul had been true to his word; Azir had been banned from the den after they returned, forced to hunt and defend for himself in the forest. Raul refused to tell anybody how long the punishment would last and Elowen knew better than to ask. She had desperately wanted to go looking for Azir, or at the very least sneak a bit of food into the undergrowth where he might find it but Raul made that impossible.

Each day he ordered her to accompany him wherever he went, he no longer hunted or attended the border patrols, instead delegating it to others. He saw to her training in both fighting and hunting, occasionally allowing her short walks with Summer or Aster, though she’d never taken up the offer of the later. She still got the distinct impression were she to be alone with the albino she’d end up with her throat slit. Aster’s jealousy was palpable, especially as it became more and more obvious Elowen was Raul’s favourite, though she had no idea why.

She found she did not mind her days with Raul, or at least, didn’t actively despise them.  Though he never stated it outright, he seemed to realise he’d been too harsh on her in the beginning. He was still firm; his orders and wishes were clear but there was also a gentleness there now. She even spent a night curled up at his side, resisting the urge to wrap her arms around to hold him close. It seemed this good behaviour was finally paying off as when news of another attack reached the pack leader, he finally decided she could be trusted to go out alone.

“Do not go past the river.” He ordered as she left the den, “Juliet spotted humans a few miles west of there.”

“I won’t.” Though idly she wondered if she could now that he’d ordered it so firmly.

Normally she felt the pull to obey her Alpha when they were together, would the compulsion still be there from an order given earlier? It was worth testing. She wandered, enjoying the cool breeze across her naked skin as she strolled. This forest really did feel like home now; as familiar and safe to her as the walls of her childhood manor had been. The sticks and stones no longer cut at her feet the way they had when she first arrived; the soles having toughed significantly. When she reached the river, she was pleased to find no sense of guilt was felt as she waded on through to the other side, she had no intention of going much further, until she could form a proper plan to meet up with these human hunters without them discovering what she was, she had no desire to meet them.

A snap of twig alerted her to a presence; claws out in an instant she turned, a snarl on her lips ready to fight whatever had disturbed her. Then a large, dark wolf stepped out from the gloom before swiftly shifting back to hybrid form.

“Azir!” She gasped, smile replacing the snarl in an instant, “Oh, I have been so worried about you! Are you alright?”

Without thinking she ran to him, nuzzling under his wolfish muzzle as it shifted back to something more human. His strong arms wrapped around her causing her heart to sing, it felt so right.

“I’m fine.” He sighed, sounding full of relief, “I will be able to come back soon, I shouldn’t even be talking to you but I couldn’t resist. Your being alone, far enough from the den that I could approach is a rare thing these days.”

“Raul keeps me close.” Elowen sighed, remembering her propriety, and pulling back, “Even though Aster throws herself at him, he seems to prefer me for some reason.”

“Aster is a bitter, jealous little thing who is only happy when everybody else is miserable.” Azir chuckled, “I think Raul only turned her because she’s got such a distinct appearance but it’s been years now and she still hasn’t borne him any cubs so…”

He shrugged instead of finishing the sentence and once again Elowen was reminded of her predicament. What would Raul do if she did bare him a child? Azir noticed he worried look and pressed a hand to her lower stomach as he swallowed.

“Are you…?”

“I don’t know yet.” She whispered, “I don’t know what to hope.”

All her life she had been raised for this, the production of heirs, but they were supposed to be lords and ladies, not wild things with a werewolf sire. She imagined it, holding a tiny child with wolf ears and a tail and her stomach churched. At first the image in her minds eye had piercing blue eyes and the thought made her blood turn to ice. Azir placed a hand on her shoulder, a platonic gesture but one that still made her blush. Ever since this whole ordeal began Azir had been there for her, doing his best to make her feel comfortable and loved. Raul wanted to own her, body and soul but Azir…he was different.

Surprising herself she moved forward to kissing him before he could speak. She may have been young, inexperienced in both human and werewolf romance but she did know one thing; she liked Azir, much more than just a friend and no bond with any other Alpha would change that.

Next thing she knew they were on the grass, laughing and rolling between kisses, Elowen could feel her tail wagging in joy. Doing this was wrong; if Raul caught them who knew what the punishment would be yet neither of them stopped. Elowen nipped at his neck playfully, drinking in his scent and the lust filled growls that escaped his mouth. She felt laughter rumble in his chest as they came to rest against a tree where Azir pulled her to her feet. For a second, Elowen was worried he meant to end this before they could go too far but was quickly proved wrong as he pressed her up against the hard bark. Without hesitation she wrapped both her legs around his hips, gasping as she pulled him into her.

For a moment they stayed still, revelling in the feeling of being joined again before Azir began to rock his hips, slipping in and out of her enough that she whimpered. She clung to him for support as the pleasure increased, each thrust only increasing her need.

“More!” She begged, “Please!”

Azir obliged, increasing the depth of each thrust until she was forced to bite down on her lip to keep from crying out. There was a new urge, something she couldn’t explain, a desire to lower her lips to the thick cord of Azir’s neck and bite down. Letting go of her hips she lowered her head, resting her sharpened fangs against the strong muscle of his shoulder as it tensed beneath her. She bit down, making Azir shudder and increase his pace. This wasn’t like her heat, neither of them wanted to take things slow, they rutted together desperately, hard and fast.

They were both too close to the edge to talk right now. Elowen could feel her insides clenching around his cock as the pleasure began to build to an inevitable crescendo. She shuddered around him, a primal sound echoing among the trees. A moment later she felt Azir follow and she was flooded with his seed, her inner wolf howled with approval. They two of them slide down the tree, collapsing into a heap and Elowen found herself giggling at the sheer ridiculousness of her situation, what would she had thought even a few months ago, knowing this was her fate?

Azir held her close and Elowen sighed in contentment. There was no way Raul would ever let Azir and her be together, not while he still had his sights set on making her his mate. There had to be something she could do to make him choose Aster over him, or at least decide she wasn’t worth the effort. She didn’t know if she was in love with Azir yet, but at least with him she didn’t need to doubt her feelings were genuine. Suddenly, she felt him tense, she wanted to ask what was wrong but then she smelt it too.

Humans.

“Get back to the den, I’ll go back into the deep forest.” Azir whispered kissing her forehead, “I’ll be allowed back soon. I’ll see you then.”

It hurt to be separated from him again so quickly, her heart ached watching his wolf disappear into the trees. No time for wallowing, she moved to cross the river when that human smell made her stop. There was something…familiar about it. It took a moment to remember, she’d only ever been around him as a human but with her heightened senses it was clear.

“Simon?”

Aster had said she’d killed him! Had she lied? Elowen wouldn’t put it past her, to say something like that just to hurt her. She had to know. Turning away from the river she followed the scent, silently sneaking through the trees; it was tempting to change into at least her hybrid form to move easily but she knew that would be foolish. It took several minutes but eventually voices reached her ears, laying flat atop a ridge she looked down to see several human hunters, silver swords in tow. Including Simon. He was alive; his handsome face was a mess of scars and he walked with a slight limp, but he was alive! She gasped in shock and she watched as every pair of eyes shot in her direction.

“Who goes there?” Simon called, his voice was rough, “Come out or face all of us!”

Without hesitation Elowen jumped to her feet, brimming with excitement.

“Simon!” She slid down the ridge, bright smile on her face.

She’d imagined this moment for so long; finally, she could go home. She flung her arms around her fiancé, hugging him tightly only to have him stiffen and push her away gentle, rather than returning the gesture.

“Elowen! You’re alive-somebody get the poor girl something to cover herself with. Have you men no shame!”

Her nakedness was suddenly at the forefront of her mind for the first time in weeks. She’d not even thought about it before approaching; she imagined it from Simon’s point of view, having a woman run up and so brazenly hug him was uncouth at best, even if it was his own fiancé. The fact that she was naked was well…completely uncivilised. She blushed, she’d gotten so used to fur and skin that when the cloak was placed over her shoulders it almost felt wrong.

“How are you alive?” He asked, “We thought they’d eaten you. We found no trace.”

She couldn’t help making a face.

“Werewolves don’t eat people.” She replied, “They…kept me in their cave.”

It wasn’t technically a lie.

“Did they bite you?” Simon asked, arms gripping her shoulders hard.

Elowen was all of a sudden aware of the difference in their power. Had a man held her like this before she’d have felt small, powerless, now though, Simon’s grip felt like nothing. If she wanted to, she could rip his hands off her without any effort as the wolf inside her longed to do.

“Of course, we didn’t.”

A yell went up from the other men as Azir, in hybrid form stepped out from the shadows and Elowen felt her blood turn to ice. Why was he here? They’d kill him!

“She was to be our bargaining chip when you got too close.” He growled, “But it seems we should have posted more guards on her cave.”

Elowen felt tears prick her eyes. He was giving her an out so that Simon and the others would take her away. His body language was that of a hunter but she could see pain in his eyes; Azir didn’t want her to go and for the first time, neither did she. Simon shove her behind him, silver sword pointed at Azir as he lowered himself and growled.

“Don’t fight him.” She pleaded, she couldn’t let Azir get hurt on her behalf “He’s…too strong, please let’s just run!”

“Dastan, take Elowen and flee. I will deal with this monster.”

She wanted to argue that he wasn’t a monster but bit her lip. Her heart pounded with fear as Simon stalked forward, not for herself but for Azir, why wasn’t he running?

“Come, my lady.” One of the hunters was tugging her by the elbow and she stumbled to follow.

This is what she wanted, wasn’t it? To be back among humans and away from Raul? But what would happen to Azir now? Would Raul blame him for her escape? There were too many questions and she knew the longer she hesitated the higher the risk that a true fight would break out. She looked to Azir, trying to convey how conflicted and sorry she was; for the briefest of moments their eyes met and she could tell he understood. He always did.

“Thank you.” She whispered to him, low enough that only his sharp ears would be able to hear.

Then she turned and fled.

~

A carriage and road seemed out of place to her, it had been so long since she’d seen such signs of civilization. Wolves didn’t keep calendars and all the days had blurred together; Elowen realised she had no idea how long it had been since that fateful night.

“How long has it been since I was…captured?” She asked the guard as he helped her into the carriage, the man was blushing so much at her state he could barely look at her.

“Almost five months, my lady.” He coughed, “Had we known you were being kept we’d have been bolder in our attempts.”

“I’m sure.”

She sat, feeling stuffy and conflicted inside until finally, Simon and the rest of his men reappeared. There was blood on his armour; Elowen didn’t know whose she hoped it was. Once again, she jumped to her feet, momentarily forgetting her cloak and having to pull it back up as the men shielded their eyes; honestly, it was just skin, had she always been so prudish?

“Did you kill him?” She couldn’t stop the question bursting forth.

“I’m afraid not, darling.” Simon sighed, “But I delt him a terrible wound, he will not be coming after you again.”

It was only then, as the idea was dashed that Elowen realised, she’d been hoping for just that. Her inner wolf howled for Raul, for Azir, for her pack. She bit her tongue until she tasted blood, it was just the Bond, once she was back in civilisation things would be different. She could forget this and so long as she never changed again, nobody would need to know.

Even so, as Simon settled in next to her and the carriage began to move, she couldn’t help but feel that this was a grave mistake.